When Peacocks Attack!

The Oregon Zoo is reevaluating its policy of allowing peacocks to roam freely on the grounds after a young boy was attacked over the weekend. There’s still no information on whether the bird was provoked or not, but officials have captured and caged the feathered fiend, while they determine its fate. The majestic multicolored birds are part of the pheasant family and although wild, have been domesticated over the years. However, the birds suffer from stress and it is suggested that you give the birds as much room as possible:

These grand birds like peace and harmony. Surprisingly, these birds can be found in zoos across the country, wandering about freely at several of them. While these birds seem to have a low stress level when contained on a farm, they seem to deal better with stress if they have more room, as they do when they are able to wander about at these zoos. Keeping this in mind, if you choose to raise peacocks and peahens, give them as much room as you possibly can.

Call us crazy, but this just doesn’t sound like the kind of 3-foot bird you should ever consider containing. If zookeepers aren’t going to let these colorful stress balls run around freely, maybe they should consider leaving the pent up birds in the wild, where they can experience a continual state of predatory anxiety naturally with the rest of the woodland creatures. |KATU|Photo: |Joel8x|